Trial lesson and booking messages

A booking message has one job. The parent should read it once and know exactly what happens next, without writing back to ask where, when or how much.

Good fit for an AI tool. The structure never changes. Only the details do.

Start with a fact block

Before you ask for a draft, write down the facts in plain lines. Put them in the prompt as a block.

• Day, date and start time.
• How long the lesson runs.
• Where it happens: your address, the student's home, a library or an online call link.
• The cost, with the currency, and how and when it's paid.
• What the student should bring.
• Your cancellation or change rule, if you have one.
• How to reach you on the day.

Then add an instruction like this: "Write a short confirmation using only the facts above. Don't add anything. If a fact is missing, put it in square brackets."

Clear input is most of the skill. Refining your instructions is how you get more accurate and useful drafts¹.

Why the "only these facts" line matters

An AI tool tries to be helpful, and sometimes that means making things up. Wikipedia calls the result a hallucination: false or misleading information stated as though it were fact².

In a booking, that looks like a made-up parking tip or a refund promise you never offered. Both are easy to miss on a quick read.

A sample shape for a trial lesson

Ask for something in this order, and ask for it short.

Hi NAME, this is a confirmation for the trial lesson on DAY at TIME at PLACE. It runs for LENGTH. The trial costs AMOUNT, paid how you've set. Please bring whatever the student is working on, such as recent homework, a test paper or a book. If anything changes, message me here.

Read that again. It's brief, it has no hype and every line answers a question the parent would otherwise ask.

For a trial, add one sentence on what happens in it. Write that one yourself, because it describes how you teach.

Details people forget

Run through this list before you send.

• Time zone. If you teach online with families in other places, say whose time you mean.
• The currency. Say it every time if you work across borders.
• Who's attending. Some parents want to stay in the room. Say whether that's fine with you.
• Payment method. Don't leave "pay on the day" vague. Say cash, bank transfer or another method you actually accept.
• Arrival. For a home visit or a studio, say where to park or which door to use.

For regular bookings

Once a student is on your books, one confirmation can cover a whole term. List the dates once, rather than writing a new message each week.

Keep a copy of what you send. If there's a disagreement later, the message you actually sent is the record, not the draft the tool made. Store it in your own diary or booking system.

Check the draft the way a parent would

Read it as if you'd never met yourself. Is the day right for the date? Is the amount the one you quoted? Does the address match the pin on your map?

Tools can swap a Tuesday for a Thursday without any sign that they've done it. Check against the diary, line by line, every time. The few seconds are cheap compared with a parent turning up at the wrong time.